Project summary

 

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most commonly reported natural marine toxin-related illness in the world. It is characterised by general, gastrointestinal, cardiac and neurological symptoms. Humans contract CFP by consuming fish that contains ciguatoxins (CTXs), which are marine toxins produced by microalgae of the genera Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa. Recently, poisoning cases have been reported in Spain (Canary Islands) and Portugal (Madeira). Additionally, microalgae of the genera Gambierdiscus and/or Fukuyoa have been detected in the Canary Islands, Madeira, Balearic Islands, Greece and Cyprus.

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Traditional methods for microalgae identification and quantification are time-consuming, laborious and tedious, and require highly trained personnel. Similarly, CTX detection has been hampered by the scarcity, toxicity and chemical complexity of these toxins, and assays developed so far lack proper validation or have raised controversy regarding their performance. Nevertheless, CTX fragments have been rationally synthetized and used to produce convenient monoclonal antibodies to develop immunoassays able to detect CTXs at nano and even sub-nanomolar levels.

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The main objective of CIGUASENSING is to provide biotechnological tools for the characterisation of the ciguatera hazard in order to promote seafood safety and to protect human health. CIGUASENSING will develop bioanalytical devices based on lateral flow assays for the multiplexed detection of four Gambierdiscus/Fukuyoa species/clades and CTXs. CIGUASENSING also aims at developing integrated microsystems combining lateral flow assays, nanostructured screen-printed electrodes and magnetic bead approaches. These bioanalytical devices will incorporate nanotechnological and biotechnological innovations for their high performance such as extraction/purification/pre-concentration with cyclodextrins, detection using aptamers, isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification, tailed primers, DNA binding proteins and electrode nanostructuring.

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The quantification of CTXs in natural populations of fish and the evaluation of the presence and density of CTX-producing microalgae and their toxicity will contribute to identify fish species susceptible to cause ciguatera, to improve the knowledge on the geographical distribution of Gambierdiscus/Fukuyoa, to identify areas having a higher risk for ciguatera, and to protect humans from potential poisoning through fish consumption.

CIGUASENSING addresses issues that are described in the Spanish Strategy of Science, Technology and Innovation, which is aligned with the H2020 EU Research and Innovation Programme. CIGUASENSING aims at providing solutions to present and future demands and taking on societal challenges, developing new technological products, promoting scientific and technical research of excellence, laying the foundations for future innovations and applications, and generating new knowledge. The project has thus a high degree of interdisciplinarity and is directly relevant to Challenge 2 (Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy). CIGUASENSING is also aligned with Challenges 1 (Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing) and 5 (Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials), as well as with the European policy area “Marine Knowledge 2020”.